Authentic German Mulled Wine: Glühwein Recipe From A German (2024)

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During Christmas time, as a German living abroad in the US, there are two essential things missing in your life: Christmas Markets and Glühwein (mulled wine).

While there is some sort of Christmas Markets around in the US, it’s just not the same as in Europe and rarely you can get real Glühwein there. So I learned how to make German mulled wine myself and ended up creating the best Glühwein recipe ever! That’s a bold and biased statement, of course, but ask any friend that had the pleasure of tasting the Glühwein and they will confirm! 😉

Here’s my recipe for German Glühwein aka authentic spiced mulled wine.

German Mulled Wine Glühwein Recipe

Why To Make Mulled Wine Yourself?

A little note on the side here, why it’s a great idea to make mulled wine yourself. The few times I found places in San Francisco and Lake Tahoe that sold mulled wine during winter, a small cup would cost $12!!!! Yes, that’s right!

As a reference, the standard cup of Glühwein in Germany costs about $3.50 – $4 at the Christmas markets. So as a German you’re crying a little bit inside when buying that heavily overpriced Gluhwein.

Making your own mulled wine also tastes a lot better and is fun too. Your kitchen will smell like Christmas!

You could even gift a DIY mulled wine set to a dear friend. But let’s not get carried away and get to how to make mulled wine yourself.

10-Spice Mulled Wine Gift Set

Glühwein Recipe

How To Make The Best Mulled Wine?

Making Glühwein is very easy. All you need is the spices, fruits, juice, wine, and a stove as well as a pot and a little bit of patience.

Ingredients For German Glühwein

For this German Glühwein recipe, you need red wine, unfiltered apple juice, an orange, a lemon, an apple, and spices to round it all up.

Depending on how sweet your apple juice is and how sweet you want the mulled wine to be, you can add some brown sugar, maple syrup, or honey.

Which Wine To Use For German Mulled Wine?

I use a Merlot for my homemade Glühwein. In general, it is best to use semi-dry wines to have a nice balance between sweet and dry. Syrah, Dornfelder, or Tempranillo also suitable options for Glühwein.

What Spices To Use For Glühwein?

The following Glühwein spices are essential to give the mulled wine its amazing taste: Cinnamon, star anise, cloves, cardamom, nutmeg, and a little bit of ginger to round it up I also add a tiny bit of ginger. Please note: Use the spices in their whole form, not ground up.

To give it a more fruity flavor and some sweetness, I add unfiltered apple juice. Pro tip: Use spiced apple juice (from Trader Joe’s for instance) to give it even more flavor.

Get Mulling Spices HERE!

If you don’t have all the spices at home, a quick and easy solution is to get mulling spices from Amazon. Loose spices work well, but also tea bags are fine.

Mulling Spices

How To Make Glühwein?

Making the Glühwein is super simple. You just need to cut the orange and lemon in slices and the apple in cubes. Add the fruits together with the spices, the apple juice and the red wine to a big pot and let it rest.

For the best flavor, let the Glühwein rest for a day before you heat it up and serve it.

Important note: Don’t bring the Glühwein to a boil! Only heat it up, otherwise, you will burn off all the alcohol.

This happened to my younger self when I made my first ever mulled wine and forgot to watch the heating-up process. My friend and I ended up drinking two entire bottles of Glühwein on our own without getting drunk, so there was definitely no alcohol left anymore 😉

How To Serve German Glühwein?

Glühwein is served hot in a cup. Preferably in a Christmas cup and even better in an original cup from a European/ German Christmas market.

Collecting cups from different Christmas markets is a thing, yes, and makes the mulled wine taste even better.

Mugs For Mulled Wine

Glühwein Mit Schuss: Spicing Up The Mulled Wine

You might think this heavenly beverage can’t get any better. It’s hard to imagine, but it can get even better by adding some additional alcohol. It is then called “Glühwein mit Schuss” which means “with a shot.”

To spice up the Glühwein you can add rum/ spiced rum, Amaretto, Grand Marnier, Cognac or really any other alcohol you feel like.

Feuerzangenbowle

A famous variation of the German mulled wine is the Feuerzangenbowle aka fire tongs bowl. Here a rum-soaked cube of sugar placed on top of the Glühwein will be set on fire and drizzles into the hot wine giving it a delicious flavor.

Learn more about how to make a German fire tongs bowl here.

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These are some of the most popular German Christmas cookies aka Lebkuchen to accompany your Glühwein with.

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Traditional Gluhwein Recipe

German Mulled Wine Recipe

Ingredients

Wine

• 3 bottles of red wine (Merlot)
• 0,75 l / 25 oz Apple juice

Fruits

• 1 Orange (sliced, organic)
• 1/2 Lemon (sliced, organic)
• 1 Apple (peeled and cubed)

Spices

• 1-2 Cinnamon Sticks
• 1 Star Anis
• 6-8 Cloves
• 5 Cardamon
• Nutmeg (to taste)
• Ginger (to taste)

Add-Ons

• Brown sugar/ maple syrup / honey
• Rum/ Spiced Rum / Amaretto / Grand Marnier / …

Instructions

1. Cut fruits to slices and cubes and add to large pot together with all spices
2. Pour wine and apple juice over fruits. Add brown sugar/ maple syrup / honey if desired.
3. Put a lid on pot and store it in a cool place to let it rest. Let the Glühwein soak for at least a few hours or best for one day.
4. Heat up the Glühwein until hot. Don’t bring it to a boil!
5. Serve Glühwein in cups with or without the fruits. (The soaked apples taste really good!)
6. Add alcohol of your choice if desired.

Enjoy!

Authentic German Mulled Wine

I hope you found my German mulled wine recipe and instructions helpful and now know how to make a great mulled wine yourself.

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